ONEIDA >> Cortland’s boys basketball team used eight and 10-point runs to open up a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter in its game against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in the first round of the NBT Bank-Oneida Sports Boosters Basketball Shootout on Friday evening.

The Red Devils made several attempts to get back into the game over the final three quarters but the Purple Tigers answered each one, coming away with a 69-52 victory in the first game of the season for both squads.

“I thought we played very well,” said VVS coach Robert Esposito. “They’re a very athletic, strong team, Class A team. I thought we competed well.”

Sage Brown’s layup was the key play in a 6-0 Cortland run in the final minute of the first half that gave the Purple Tigers a 35-23 lead at the break. Brown led a balanced scoring effort with 16 points, one of five Cortland players in double figures.

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Dalton Cousin had a game-high 23 to lead the Red Devils in defeat.

“I thought he played awesome,” said Esposito of Cousin. “The kids who got him the ball did awesome. As a collective group of 13 players I thought we all did a good job of contributing. If we can keep working like this, we’ll be on the other side of the scoreboard, hopefully.”

On a night when three of the four teams in the tournament struggled offensively in the first quarter, Cortland was the exception. The Purple Tigers put up 23 points, led by Zach Whelan’s nine points on three 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Cousin scored just once in the opening period and his team trailed 23-8 entering the second.

Cousin found his offensive touch in the second quarter, scoring three baskets to cut the Cortland lead to 23-12. Matt McCoy and Jeremy VanDuLuitgaarden each made a 3-pointer for the Red Devils to cut the lead to 27-20 and Cousin followed a Cortland basket two more field goals inside to make it a six-point game.

With one minute remaining in the first half, the Purple Tigers made their key run. After a Quinn Kennedy basket, Brown came up with a loose ball and made an easy layup that Qadir Artis followed with a basket moments later. That shot gave Cortland a 35-23 lead it would take into halftime.

“If we could have got a couple stops there and maybe cut it to two or three, maybe we’ve got a different game afterwards,” said Esposito. “I’m very happy with the way we played. I thought we could have defended a just little better but I thought we came out pretty well and played pretty hard.”

The Red Devils came out strong in the second half, cutting the lead to 40-32 on two free throws by Justin VanDuLuitgaarden, a basket by Cousin and a 3-pointer by Nick Metzger. However, Cortland answered with a 7-0 run and led by double digits for the remainder of the game.

Brown was joined in double-digit scoring by Daquan Pittman with 12, Whalen and Artis with 11 and Kennedy with 10, Jeremy VanDuLuitgaarden and Casey Jones had seven apiece for the Red Devils.

VVS will play Oneida in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday while Cortland takes on Bishop Grimes in the championship afterwards.

About the Author

Kyle Mennig, sports editor for the Oneida Dispatch, originally hails from Munnsville. Kyle graduated from Geneseo State in 2008 and covers local sporting events, focusing on area high schools. Reach the author at kmennig@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Kyle on Twitter: @DispatchKyle.